Dear guests of our Republic!

The travel agency Kizhanka has been working on tourism market of the Republic of Karelia since 2001. We offer a variety of travel services for foreign visitors, including excursions to Kizhi Island, Valaam Island, waterfall Kivach, the Solovetsky Islands. We book hotels and country cottages on the shores of lakes and rivers, arrange picking up and seeing off our guests at the railway station and the airport. The excursions are conducted by skilful guides speaking good English, Finish, German, French, and Italian.

Excursion to Kizhi Island.

The excursions are organized every day during the period of navigation on Lake Onego – from the middle of May till the middle of October.

The departure by hydrofoil to Kizhi Island (1 hour and 15 minutes across Lake Onego; the time of departure is agreed with the travel manager). Meeting with the company representative on the pier of Kizhi Island (the rep will be holding a sign of the travel agency “Kizhanka”).

A walking tour on the island “Traditional culture of Russians in Zaonezhje”(multi-domed wooden Kizhi churches and farmers’ homestead of Zaonezhje). Excursion to an exhibition devoted to the building of Kizhanka boat. Return to Petrozavodsk by hydrofoil.

The length of the tour is 5 hours 30 min.

Museum and nature reserve Kizhi is one of the largest open-air museums in Russia. It is a unique historical, cultural, and natural complex, which is included into the State Code of Cultural Heritage sites of Special Value of the Russian Federation. The most famous is the architectural ensemble of Kizhi pogost (multi-domed wooden churches with a graveyard) which is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Excursion to Valaam Island.

Early departure by bus from the city of Petrozavodsk. Transfer to the town of Sortavala (260km). Departure by hydrofoil to Valaam Island (the length of the trip is 1 hour across Lake Ladoga). A guided tour to the central Garth of the monastery with visiting the Transfiguration Cathedral, the refectory of the Assumption church, the cells building with household structures and an old brethren cemetery. The concert of the church choir, which introduces the old tradition of church singing. Diner in the refectory. Transfer to the Nickon Bay, an excursion to the Resurrection and Gethsemane Hermitages. Transfer by hydrofoil to the town of Sortavala. Return to the city of Petrozavodsk ( before 23:00)

The Valaam Archipelago is situated in the western part of Lake Ladoga. In 1999 the territory of the archipelago officially became a nature park. The total area of the park is 24,7 thousand hectares but the total area of the islands is only 3600 hectares. The most famous of them is Valaam Island, which gave names to the archipelago and the monastery, situated on this island. During its centuries-old history that dates back to X-XI centuries the monastery has created an outstanding landscape and architectural complex, known all over the world. In 1992 by the decree of the President of the Russian Federation Valaam Island was declared an object of national heritage of Russia. The Transfiguration Cathedral hosts quite a few sacred objects including the relics of Reverends Sergius and Herman, the Valaam wonder-workers, placed in the lower church. The monastery owns icons of the Mother of God “Valaamskaya” and “Vsetsaritsa” and other sacred objects.

Solovki.

The Solovetsky Archipelago (Solovki) lies in the western part of the White Sea between the Pomor area and the Summer shore of the Onega Peninsula, close to the Polar Circle. The Solovetsky Islands form an archipelago which includes six large and more than hundred smaller islands.

Big Solovetsky Island is famous for the Cathedral of Transfiguration of Christ our Savior founded in XV century by the monks Zosimus, Sabbath and Herman. The monastery gradually developed its economy, and from the XVIII to the beginning of the XX century it was the largest pilgrimage and economic center of Pomorye.

In 1923 the Solovetsky Special Purpose Camp (SLON) was established here, and in 1937 the Solovetsky Special Purpose Prison was set up. During the years of its existence about 100.000 prisoners passed through the camp and the prison of Solovki. The prison was closed in 1939, its prisoners were removed to other places of detention.

In January 1967, there was established a museum, which in 1974 was transformed into the Solovetsky historical, architectural and museum-nature reserve. In 1992, the historical and cultural cluster of the Solovky Islands was included into the World Heritage List of UNESCO. Then in 1995 these islands were included into the State Code of Cultural Heritage sites of Special Value of the Russian Federation.

The picturesque indented shoreline of the Solovetsky Islands, the boulder rocky shores, a large area of mixed forest with scattered lakes among them make the archipelago unique. Living on the islands for a long time people connected some islands with roads, the lakes with canals, cleaned the area for hayfields, built a dock, a harbour, dams fishing grounds, fishing traps, developed some trades and crafts.

On October 25, 1990 the Solovetsky Monastery was renovated and started functioning again. It received the status of a stauropegion monastery, which means that it reports directly to His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia.

Excursion to the Waterfall Kivach and the Martial Spa.

An excursion to the first Russian resort “Martial Spa” with tasting water from salubrious springs. A visit to the Nature Reserve Kivach with exploring one of the largest plain waterfalls in Europe (10,7m high) the Waterfall Kivach, and a museum of nature with an arboretum. Return to Petrozavodsk.

The length of the tour is 6 hours.

The first Russian resort “Martial Spa” is located on the territory of the Kondopoga region only 54km from Petrozavodsk. It was founded by Peter the Great in 1719 near the springs of chalybeate mineral water. The emperor regularly visited the resort with his family and the court to receive medical treatment.

The Nature Reserve Kivach is one of the oldest in Russia and the first supervised nature area in Karelia. It was founded in 1931 around the waterfall of the same name in the Kondopoga Region almost in the central part of Southern Karelia.